Harvard Breaks Series Drought With 1-0 Victory Over Minnesota

They say the third time’s a charm, and for the Harvard women’s hockey team Friday night, that couldn’t have been more true.

After losing two back-to-back games on the road against the University of Minnesota last season, the No. 9 Crimson (7-3-2, 6-3-0 ECAC) finally toppled the No. 2 Gophers (13-3-2, 9-2-1 WCHA), 1-0, on Friday night at Bright Hockey Center. Junior Liza Ryabkina, who wears jersey number three, scored the winning goal 33 seconds into the third period.

“It was just a quick one-timer,” Harvard coach Katey Stone said. “She was in the right place at the right time.”

It was Ryabkina’s second consecutive game-winning goal in just her second game this season after missing the first part of the year with a knee injury. She also scored the deciding goal in Harvard’s 3-2 win over Dartmouth last week.

“It feels absolutely amazing—there are no other words to describe it,” Ryabkina said. “We really wanted to win today, and we worked really hard for it.”

Senior goaltender Christina Kessler, who made 24 saves in the shutout, earned one of the biggest wins of her impressive career. The win was Kessler’s 62nd career victory—bringing her within one of Harvard’s all-time goalie wins record, held by Ali Boe ’06. It also pulled her ahead—for the time being—of former Wisconsin goalie Jessie Vetter for the NCAA career save percentage record at .9414.

“I’m not looking at how many saves I make, or how many wins I have,” Kessler said. “It’s all about our game and winning right now.”

After Minnesota won the opening faceoff, neither team recorded a shot on goal until nearly four minutes in, when Kessler deflected a shot by Gopher senior Kelli Blankenship. The Crimson got its first opportunity two minutes later, but Minnesota freshman goalie Noora Raty played spoiler to a shot from Ryabkina.

Harvard had an opportunity to score on a one-on-one fast break midway through the period, but freshman Jillian Dempsey missed wide.

With 3:43 remaining in the period, Harvard freshman defender Josephine Pucci was penalized for high sticking.

Coming into the game ranked sixth in the nation on the penalty kill, Harvard’s man-down unit continued its strong play, as Kessler made two nice kick saves off shots by Minnesota’s Brittany Francis and Kelly Seeler, and the defense held the Gophers off. At the end of the first period, Minnesota had taken nine shots, compared to just five for the Crimson.

“I think we played really well defensively,” Kessler said. “I think a lot of the shots were from the outside, and I saw them, [which] made my job a lot easier.”

The second period began with four-on-four play, and the opening minutes were fast-paced. Kessler made three saves in the opening two minutes of the period, and after another Gopher penalty, Harvard missed the chance to score when Dempsey couldn’t put a back-handed flick away after a great pass off a fast break.

Just a minute after that penalty expired, the Gophers again were sent to the box, but Minnesota remained aggressive offensively. Junior Emily West stole the puck in Harvard territory and almost pushed it in, and after Raty saved a Ryabkina slapshot, it took a diving stop by co-captain Kathryn Farni to thwart a fast break by Minnesota’s Chelsey Jones.

After more good goaltending on both sides, Crimson junior Kate Buesser missed an opportunity with 9:49 remaining, when her wide-open wrist shot from just outside the crease hit Raty in the chest.

The Crimson missed another opportunity to score with 7:42 remaining, when senior Anna McDonald missed wide and high after a break-away.

“I liked how our kids never backed down tonight,” Stone said. “They just stepped up and played very well.”

In the opening seconds of the third period, with a Harvard power play winding down, the Crimson finally broke through. Dempsey skated down the left baseline and pushed a cross to Ryabkina, who put the puck in the lower left corner of the net.

Harvard had opportunities to build on its lead after Ryabkina’s goal, but rookie Margaret Chute couldn’t capitalize on a fast break, and junior Deborah Conway missed an open shot after the Minnesota defender in front of her fell down.

With under a minute and a half left, the Gophers had their best chance to tie things up, but a fast-break shot by West lacked power and was saved by Kessler. Minnesota had the puck in Harvard territory in the final minute, but Kessler saved Megan Bozek’s wrist shot, and that was it for the Gophers.

It was the team’s fourth-consecutive win, and the Crimson’s first win over Minnesota since the 2003 NCAA semifinals. Harvard had not beaten a team from the WCHA—the conference that has turned out every NCAA women’s hockey champion—since a 4-0 win over Minnesota-Duluth three years ago.

“I think we’ve really come together,” Kessler said. “We struggled a little at the start defensively...[but] we’ve really settled down in our defensive zone and played very well.”

For Kessler, the shutout was especially impressive, considering the fact that Minnesota hadn’t been blanked since February 2007.

“It’s pretty high up there,” the goalie said of this game’s rank in her storied career. “One of the things we talked about as a team yesterday is that we don’t want to have an underdog mentality. We are as good as Minnesota, and this just proves we are a great team.”